And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is shepherding the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we will not turn around until he comes here.”
1 Samuel 16:9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.”
1 Samuel 16:10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.”
1 Samuel 16:11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is shepherding the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we will not turn around until he comes here.”
1 Samuel 16:12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And Yahweh said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
The verse centers on "sheep", "samuel", "said", "jesse", "young", "remains", "youngest", and "behold". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "samuel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Thus Jesse made seven of his sons..." into verse 12's "So he sent and brought him in...", so "sheep" and "samuel" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sheep" and "samuel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.